Missile launching ramp



Sept. 5, 1961 R. J. COUTS MISSILE LAUNCHING RAMP Filed March 8, 1952 INVEN TOR. Robe/'2" J- Caufs ATTORNEY 2,998,752 NESSILE LAUNCHING RAMP Robert J. Coats, Akron, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Mar. 8, 1952, Ser. No. 275,500 1 Claim. (Cl. 891.7)

This invention relates to a launching ramp for winged missiles, and in particular to the track arrangement thereof which permits a missile to leave the ramp at relatively low speed without tip-01f.

Heretofore, it has been known to provide launching ramps for winged missiles with a pair of tracks for guiding a front pair and a rear pair of shoes attached to the missile. However, in launching such a missile in windy or gusty Weather it occurred that as soon as the front pair of shoes had left the tracks the missile had insufficient guidance and, therefore, the tendency to be side-swept while the rear pair of shoes was still on the traclcs, making a satisfactory take-off difiicult. In other cases, when the direction of thrust of a booster rocket did not go through the center of gravity of the missile, the missile was lifted off the tracks, either at front or rear, thus interfering with a well balanced take-off.

It is the general object of the invention to avoid and overcome the foregoing and other difficulties of and objections to prior art practices by the provision of a launching ramp for missiles whereby all shoes of a missile disengage substantially simultaneously from the ramp tracks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a launching ramp for missiles which is most compact and affords a stabilizing effect to the missile for a satisfactory take-01f.

The aforesaid objects of the invention, and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds, are achieved by providing a missile launching ramp with three tracks, engaging shoes attached to the missile. Two of the tracks are laterally spaced and disposed on top of the ramp structure, and the third track is positioned in the center of this structure and below the aforementioned tracks. The front ends of the upper tracks and the front end of the lower track are staggered longitudinally such a distance that in launching the front shoes and rear shoe of the missile disengage from the tracks substantially simultaneously. Because the missile is held on the tracks against lateral and vertical movement there will be no tip oif when it leaves the ramp. The operating length of the ramp can be made extremely short to insure, even below stalling speed of the missile, a satisfactory launching performance.

For a better understanding of the invention reference should be had to the accompanying drawing, wherein FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ramp structure,

FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the upper track structure, taken on line IVIV of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the lower track structure, taken on line VV of FIG. 1.

With specific reference to the form of the invention illustrated in the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates in general the longitudinal frame work girders of the launching ramp which are connected together by transverse structures 2 of suitable construction and by an end beam 3 carrying pivots 4 about which the ramp is tiltable for launching the missile 5, preferably with the wing folded as shown. The missile 5 is provided with a pair of lateral shoes 6 bearing on tracks 7 formed by the upper girder members and held in position by guides 8 and 9 secured to the tracks 7 by bolts 10. Similarly a shoe 11, extending from the bottom and towards the rear of missile 5, bears against a middle track 12 secured to some of the transverse structures 2 by bolts 13 and provided at both sides with guides 14 and 15 fastened by bolts :16 to the track 12. The front ends of the upper tracks 7 are staggered against the front end of the lower or middle track .12 a distance A equal to the longitudinal distance between the rear ends of the shoes 6 and the shoe 11, so

that, in launching, the missile will disengage from all tracks substantially simultaneously. This is important for successfully launching the missile. i

It will be recognized that the objects of the invention have been achieved by providing a launching ramp with three tracks for guiding a missile at the sides and at the bottom center to prevent it from changing its upright position during contact with the launching ramp, but to simultaneously disengage all missile shoes from the tracks, so that the launching speed of the missile can be relatively low, even below its stalling speed and, thus, permit a launching ramp of unusually short length requiring least space.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claim is:

In combination, a self-energized missile, a pair of longitudinal short guide shoes positioned on the forward portion of the missile, one shoe extending laterally on each side of the missile, a third longitudinally-short guide shoe connected to the bottom of the rear of the missile, a launching ramp slidably supporting the missile and including a pair of parallel rails slidably supporting a pair of guide shoes, a third rail positioned midway between and parallel to the parallel rails but below the plane thereof and slidably supporting the third guide shoe, the third rail terminating in a forward direction short of the forward end of the parallel rails, the distance between the termination of the third rail and the points of termination of the parallel rails being equal to the distance between the pair of guide shoes and the single shoe whereby the pair of guide shoes leave the parallel rails at the same time as the single guide shoe leaves its rail so that no turning moment exists on the missile to turn it out of line when it is launched.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Sweden Feb. 13, 1951 Patented Sept. 5, 1961 

